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The revelations – from a two day “pop-up lab” set up in a church hall – will horrify parents of young people using so-called party drugs.

One in five samples were heavily contaminated. A 23-year-old student took in cocaine, MDMA and ketamine to the service, set up in Durham. The coke was heavily mixed with dental anaesthetic. The shocked student said: “I was curious to find out what was in it.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I’ve been taking drugs for three years, mainly to have a good time, but at other times they help me become introspective and it becomes therapy.”

(Image: Mark Pinder)

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Worryingly, samples contained twice the usual adult dose and many were spiked with a stimulant called N-ethylpentylone, which causes hallucinations, anxiety, insomnia and paranoia – with the effects lasting up to four days.

Other cocaine samples were cut with boric acid, a household cleaner and crushed malaria tablets.

Table salt was being passed off as ketamine, while heroin contained paracetamol and caffeine.

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Prof Measham, a criminology lecturer at Durham University, said: “We say to people the safest way to take drugs is not to take them at all.

“Our approach remains somewhat controversial, but I think it’s becoming less so. There is a concern our work could be seen to encourage drug use because it’s claimed we are making drug use safer.

“It’s not about making drug use safer, it’s about making people safe. We don’t condone drug use and say that when people bring samples. One in five people throw away their drugs and say they don’t want to take them now we know what’s in them. They hand them to us and police take them away for safe destruction.”

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Local police support the approach. Durham’s Chief Constable Mike Barton backs legalisation of cannabis and has discussed so-called “shooting galleries” for heroin addicts.

Drug-related hospital admissions were down 95 per cent after The Loop carried out testing at a music festival in Cambridgeshire.

It came as the UK was named as having the highest drug-related death rate on record and one of the highest rates in Europe.

Prof Measham said a similar service has operated in Holland or 25 years.

She added: “The Netherlands have a much lower drug-related death rate than here and they do not have higher use because of the testing either.

“Two in five people that we see will take smaller amounts or stop altogether. We talk about dosage and flag up the harmful contents and contaminants. So we are raising awareness.” The samples are analysed by onsite chemists and an ECG-style printout reveals the molecular formula.